Prayagraj Kumbh concludes with last holy dip on Maha Shivratri

New Delhi, Mar 5 : Around 24 crore devotees took holy dip at the two-month-long Prayagraj Kumbh which successfully concluded with last holy dip on Maha Shivratri as a large number of devotees thronged the Sangam the confluence of rivers Ganga, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati braving cold and rains from mid night.

The Kumbh mela started from Makar Sankranti on January 15 till Maha Shivratri on March 4. For the First time President, Vice-President, Prime Minister, Union Ministers of the country, Governors and Chief Ministers and State Ministers of different state governments not only visited the Kumbh but also took holy dip at Sangam.

The Prayagraj Kumbh attracted more than 24 crore bathers on different bathing festivals including Makar Sankranti, Paush Purnima, Mauni Amavasya, Vasant Panchami, Maghi Purnima and Maha Shivratri. For the first time in the history of Prayagraj Kumbh, an unprecedented rush of devotees was witnessed throughout the Mela period.

Maha Shivratri, sixth and the last bathing festival of Prayagraj Kumbh, was celebrated on Monday with religious fervour and enthusiasm. Large number of devotees thronged the Sangam, the confluence of rivers Ganga, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati braving cold and rains from mid night.

Prayagraj Kumbh Mela 2019 has been placed in the Guinness World Records in three sectors. It includes largest traffic and crowd management plan, the biggest painting exercise of public sites under paint my city scheme and biggest sanitation and waste disposal mechanism

Prayagraj Mela Authority has said above one crore 10 lakhs devotees took holy dip on the occasion. Mela administration had developed about eight kilometers long eight ghats at Sangam and other areas of the Mela for pilgrims. 27 Special trains and thousands of buses were put into service to ferry the devotees, an official communique from Ministry of Culture here said.

Elaborate security arrangements were in place in and around the Mela area. Several dignitaries including Union and State Ministers took holy dip on the occasion. The mela was spread over 3,200 hectares of land and divided into 20 sectors. 20 pantoon bridges were erected on the river Ganga to connect the different sectors. For the first time Prayagraj Kumbh successfully put its name in Guinness Book of World record in three fields including sanitation and cleaning, traffic plan and mob management and paint your city.

Representatives of the world record book visited the Mela and observed the three days Mela administration. They have handed over three certificates to the Mela Authority in this regard.

Similarly, representatives of 72 countries put their national flags at Kumbh and more than 3500 representatives from different countries visited the Mela. Thousands of Non Resident Indians also visited the Kumbh and took holy dip. Prime Minister of Mauritius with his wife also visited the Kumbh and took holy dip and met saints and sears.

Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Amit Khare also visited the Prayagraj Kumbh and took holy dip. He also visited the camps of All India Radio and Doordarshan and high tech exhibition of BOC set up at the Mela on the lives of Father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel. (UNI)